As a ZBrush 4R7 owner I'm really looking forward to the 4R8 update. Its main features are:

• a conventional gizmo as an alternative to the Transpose line;
• realtime Boolean operations;
• LazyMouse improvements, such as angle snaps, and seamlessly continuing a stroke with the same depth as the previous stroke;
• 3D alphas (Vector Displacement Maps), for advanced 3D brushes.

I guess for 3D artists who don't own ZBrush, just having Dynamesh added to their 3D toolset is worth ZBrushCore's $ 120 alone. Except for maybe Modo's MeshFusion I know no alternative that equals it. Blender's Remesh modifier is only half as good as Dynamesh.

I've had a go at the demo version of 3D Coat about a year ago. It's definitely an interesting and versatile tool, and I'm keeping an eye on its development.

The only issue I have with 3D Coat's Live Clay is that it uses dynamic triangulation, like Blender's Dyntopo. Quads are more suitable for sculpting than triangles. That's where Dynamesh shines: it has relatively few triangles and mainly quads.

As with many bought applications, the new owner might discontinue support for it. This might also become the case with Sculptris, but I hope for its users that it will not happen. Otherwise they can switch for ZBrushCore for a very reasonable price.